Categories

It was a double dip depression for me, a last gasp 1-1 draw for CD Marino was too little against close relegation rivals Zamora and the later TV game saw CD Tenerife continue their slide with a 2-0 defeat at Fuenlabrada.

New coach Jose Juan Almeida got little more than a polite ripple of a welcome in Las Americas from a depressingly small crowd of less than 150. Balduino had a weak early effort in a poor first half, Peraza and Javi on the wings tried to make an impact but Balduino and Noah were struggling up front. Natael slipped off his nose guard after the warm up and put his busted hooter in among some sturdy challenges but creativity was at a minimum for both sides.

Visiting keeper Miguel saw more action in the second half, a free kick from Maykel kept him alert and he had to frantically close the gap from a poor back pass as Noah raced in. Zamora relied heavily on the offside trap but Javi created a few good openings, Noah had a shout for a defenders hand ball but the ref wasn’t impressed. Marino were caught napping after 75 minutes, Zamora broke down the field and had time to square the ball unchallenged across the face of the goal for a simple tap in. Balduino fell heavily after a defender brushed him in the box and was aggrieved not to get anything, Pablo warming up on the touchline voiced his thoughts and got booked for his comments. An injury time free kick was the last chance, Almeida relayed instructions to the pitch and it did the trick as the kick beat the wall for Maykel to save a point.

Fast forward to a freezing compact Fuenlabrada ground just south of Madrid, CD Tenerife looked impressive in attack, a 6th minute move from Chechu on the left via Cristo Martin to a Suso shot from the right didn’t get the goal it deserved. Medina held his centre back place with Yeray starting in midfield and Cristo back for the injured Loro. Llorente was on his away day excursions down the left, one led to Chechu hooking his shot up and over the bar. It was looking good until the home side had their first attack after 20 minutes and realized how poor the Tenerife defence was. Moyano had to mop up a couple of times after Pachon was free in front of goal and Lopez was having fun on the wing with Llorente not marking back. Lopez should have done better from a free kick on the half hour, Sergio pushed over another raid from Llorente’s vacant slot before the inevitable happened. A corner was floated into the box and hung in the air for Pachon to rise up and score with a free header.

It was more of the same after the break, Lopez again got room for a cross from Tenerife’s left, it missed the fallen Pachon but came to Reuben who swept it into the Tenerife net as the defence sat back. Coach Cervera brought on Guillem for Chechu but he and Aridane did nothing to threaten a revival. The full backs pushed up, Moyano cut in to feed Llorente but his shot was wild and high. A double substitution brought Nico and Jeremy on for Cristo and Medina, the French left winger showed some pace and ideas but Yeray was the only one making an effort to meet his creations. Suso blasted wide late on and supplied a header for Yeray but that also missed the target. These are testing times for the coach and his players, two strong results are needed or there wont be much ho ho ho in the Christmas break.